How much does a website with 3D animation and scroll-video cost?
The short answer: the cost does not come from "adding animation", but from three separate jobs - preparing the asset (a model or a film), writing the logic that controls it, and optimising it so the same thing runs smoothly on a three-year-old phone. The last part usually takes the most time, and it is what separates an impressive demo from a site that sells.
Three levels of effect and what drives their cost
Clients say "I want a site like Apple". Behind that impression stand three completely different technologies with different costs:
- 1. Animation and micro-interactions (least expensive) - motion in CSS and JavaScript: sections sliding in, smooth scrolling, responsive buttons, kinetic typography. It adds class and barely adds asset production cost.
- 2. Scroll-video (the middle, best effect for the money) - a film controlled by scrolling the page. The viewer directs the scene with their thumb. All the graphics are already locked in the video file, so the cost is editing and the engineering of the controls, not building a 3D scene. The hero on the REELM home page works this way.
- 3. Real-time 3D scene - WebGL/WebGPU (most expensive) - a model rendered live in the browser: a rotating product, a colour configurator, a flight through an interior, a particle field that reacts to the cursor. Needed when the user must genuinely control an object. It requires a model, optimised meshes and textures, and separate tests on weaker hardware.
The most common mistake I see in quotes: the client pays for level 3 when level 2 fully achieves their goal.
Why quotes for the same site differ so much
I do not publish a price table, and I do not quote market price ranges here either: they depend on the country, the currency and the contractor too much to be useful. Every project is quoted individually: free concept and quote within 24h.
What I can say: a site with real 3D or scroll-video sits in the upper half of what agencies charge for websites. Not because 3D is fashionable, but because it adds two jobs a template site does not have: producing the asset and optimising for weaker hardware.
A real example from 2026. The owner of a small installation company in Poland sent an identical brief (a WordPress company site, 8-10 pages, a knowledge base) to five contractors and got quotes differing more than tenfold. People from the industry who commented on the case explained the spread not by quality but by each contractor's own costs: an agency serving corporations prices in five meetings about the colour of a button, a freelancer with a ready-made theme prices in a week of work. The lesson: compare the scope in bullet points, not the total, and ask what exactly the contractor does for the price.
What moves the scope
No honest calculator can price a project without knowing it. What it can do is show how much work you are actually ordering. These are the decisions that move the budget most; take the list into any conversation, mine or someone else's:
- Type of effect - animation and micro-interactions, scroll-video, a real-time 3D scene, or a 3D product configurator or interactive flight.
- Assets - ready and prepared, raw (CAD, renders, footage) to be processed, or created from scratch.
- Size of the site - a single landing page, 3-6 pages, 7-15 pages, or more than 15.
- Extras - a shop or payments, bookings or integration with your system, a second language, a panel for editing content yourself, sound, migration from the old site with redirects, SEO and GEO, care and development after launch.
Where people overpay
- A 3D scene where a film would do - if the user only watches and does not control anything, scroll-video gives the same effect more cheaply and with less weight.
- An effect in every section - a site where everything moves is tiring. One strong moment works better than eight weak ones and costs a fraction.
- A production-quality 3D model - a mesh from CAD often has hundreds of thousands of triangles. The browser needs a fraction of that. Paying for detail nobody will see is pure waste.
- A subscription just for the site to exist - a separate matter from hosting. Always ask what exactly it includes and whether the code is yours.
- Paid plugins every month - a WordPress site with twenty premium plugins can, over two years, cost as much again as it cost to build. Ask about running costs, not only the starting price.
- Everything paid upfront - the stories of "I paid and a year later I still have no website" start with a transfer for everything at once. Payment in stages, with the rest after acceptance of a working site, protects both sides.
- No concept stage - the most expensive changes are the ones made after coding. A visual direction approved before the code can remove half of the revisions.
See it before you pay
You can see all three levels of effect live, on your own phone, for free and without leaving any contact details:
- Scroll-video - the REELM home page (Polish version): a film controlled by scrolling.
- Real-time 3D scene - RÓWNIK (a living coffee plantation on WebGPU, in Polish) and BRYŁA (a flight through a house, in Polish).
- 3D configurator and game - VELOCE: a car colour configurator and a 3D track.
- A real deployment - Hair Solution Clinic: the site of a premium salon in Wrocław.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does a website with 3D animation cost?
Every project is quoted individually, free concept and quote within 24h. A site with real-time 3D or scroll-video sits in the upper half of what agencies charge for websites, because it adds work a template site does not have: preparing models or video material, optimising for phones and separate performance testing. I quote without packages, so you do not pay for things you do not need.
Why does a 3D website cost more than a regular one?
Because the cost is not in adding an animation but in three separate jobs: preparing the asset (a 3D model or edited video), writing the logic that controls it in the browser, and optimising it so the same thing runs smoothly on a three-year-old phone. The last part usually takes the most time, and it is what separates an impressive demo from a site that actually sells.
Can the 3D effect be done more cheaply?
Yes, and I often recommend it. Scroll-video (a film controlled by scrolling) gives a cinematic impression at a fraction of the cost of a real-time 3D scene, because all the graphics are already inside the video file. An animated image sequence or a single 3D element instead of a whole scene works the same way.
How long does a site like this take?
A simple site with one effect usually takes days. A full immersive experience with a 3D scene, sound and two languages takes weeks. I set the deadline when I quote and I keep it.
Won't a site like this be slow?
Not if someone takes care of it. All my projects leave my desk with a Lighthouse score of 90+ and are tested on a real phone, not in an emulator. A heavy 3D site is the result of neglected optimisation, not of the technology.
Do I need ready-made 3D models?
Not always. If you have them (from CAD, Blender or Revit), I use yours after simplifying them for the browser. If not, I prepare the assets myself: a model, a sequence or video material generated for the brand.
What exactly affects the price?
The number of pages, the type of effect (video versus a real-time 3D scene), whether assets have to be created from scratch, a second language, a shop or bookings, integrations with systems you already have, and the scope of care after launch.
Why do quotes for the same project differ so much?
Because you are not paying for a website but for the way the contractor works: their own costs, the number of people on the project, the number of meetings, and whether they start from a ready-made theme or from a conversation about your customers. Quotes for an identical brief can differ more than tenfold. The only defence is a scope in bullet points: what is included, what is not, how long it takes - and comparing lists, not totals.
Fifteen minutes and you know the cost.
Tell me two sentences about your company. I will tell you which level of effect makes sense for you, how long it takes and what it costs - or that it is not worth it. Every project is quoted individually: free concept and quote within 24h. No obligation.
Author: Sebastian Werman. I run REELM, a one-person studio from Wrocław, Poland, and design and code immersive websites (WebGL, WebGPU, scroll-video) as well as classic company websites. Published: .